The Matrix Effect: Lair of the Shadow Broker
by unity9
Summary: A year has passed since the death of John Shepard. While Shepard is being brought back to life, Neo is now a rouge agent living on Illium and working as an information broker with Liara T'Soni as his partner. They plot to take down the Shadow Broker for attempting to sell Shepard's body to the Collectors, but are they strong enough to take down such a powerful giant?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**__ I do not own Mass Effect or the Matrix_

**THE MATRIX EFFECT: LAIR OF THE SHADOW BROKER**

**CHAPTER 1**

* * *

**NOS ASTRA, ILLIUM**

**THOMAS ANDERSON'S APARTMENT**

**OCTOBER 13, 2184**

Thomas Anderson, the former Alliance Intelligence agent who went by the codename 'Neo' was slumped over his desk. Sleeping off another session of loading and downloading information he would gather from the extranet and selling the information for profit. It was a regular occurrence since he helped Shepard stop Saren and the geth from taking over the Citadel almost a year ago, working non-stop to learn more about the sentient machines known as the Reapers and hoping to acquire alliances behind the scenes of galactic politics in hopes of fighting back against the inevitable Reaper invasion.

However tonight was just like any other night inside his apartment on Nos Astra. Just randomly collecting information and selling it to whoever was paying for it, whether it would be a random street thug or a power hungry executive. This was Illium; the economy, government, and society are strictly _Laissez__-faire_. Legal on this planet was many things that would make it illegal in Citadel space. Such are the things that are frowned upon in Citadel space is prostitution, drugs, heavy gambling, slavery or as the business leaders would call it _indentured servitude_, and information brokerage.

Information brokerage, it is one of the main reasons why Thomas is now living on Illium. He remembers doing such a thing back when he was a young criminal back on Earth, collecting and trading information to a criminal gang he was working for after emerging from the Matrix and finding out that his parents were killed on the farming colony of Mindoir from batarian pirates. When he was caught, that was when his life began. He was recruited by the Alliance Intelligence Agency by a man calling himself Morpheus and trained Thomas to become an intelligence agent. This is how he got the chance to work with Commander John Shepard when he was in charge of helping the transfer of the Prothean beacon back on Eden Prime, but a rouge turian Spectre named Saren betrayed the Council when he brought geth to attack the planet and killed a fellow Spectre named Nihlus. This in turn spring boarded Shepard to become the first human Spectre.

Thomas followed Shepard and fought alongside him and his crew while hunting down the former Spectre which led to a showdown at the Citadel. Saren was under the control of the sentient ancient machine called Sovereign, but he managed to break free from its control. Saren was about to do the honorable thing by taking his own life. However, another player in the game saw to it to end his life for them. Agent Smith.

Smith was once a computer program for the Matrix, but he had managed to escape when Saren sent an army of geth to infiltrate the Matrix. Now Smith possessed a geth unit and is doing God knows what behind the Perseus veil.

Thomas was slumped over his desk, snoozing while his latest batch of information was downloading. He had five holo screens simultaneously downloading information from all corners of Citadel space and parts of the Terminus systems. Then his Omni-tool lit up and the ring ton woke him out of his slumber.

He answered the call, but the call came in the form of a message. The message reads: _Wake up_. Instinctively after reading that message he pulled out his pistol which was stashed underneath his desk. Somebody is watching him.

The message continues to come through. _I have what you're looking for_. Is what it reads. Thomas just narrows his eyes a bit and continues to read the rest of the message. _Follow the white rabbit_. Now he was just confused.

Before he could investigate there was a buzz at the door. With his pistol still in his hand, he approaches the vid screen and activates the security camera. There were six people standing outside. Two human males, one turian, one human female, and two asari. Thomas recognizes the brown hair man with the dark goatee in front of the group and he tucks his pistol behind his pants.

He activates the door control and allows the group to come in, but tells them that they are to sit in the living room area and nowhere else. After the group sits on the large sofa, Thomas is looking over the balcony and looks at one of the human males. "Choi. What can I do for you?"

Thomas knew Choi. He and his friends were clients of Thomas; he made regular visits and paid well. All Thomas knew about Choi was that he was a podborn like him and he always had money. Thomas didn't know where he got his money, but didn't pry into his affairs. Thomas preferred to conduct business that way

"I'm here for the thing, man." Choi said while one of the asari was sitting on his lap. "Do you have it?"

"Yes." Thomas answered, but slightly annoyed. "Your two hours late and this isn't the Citadel, you can cut the 'I'm not a cop' act." He said as he was coming downstairs and looked through the data of his Omni-tool.

"Sorry for being late. It's her fault." Choi looks at the asari on his lap.

Choi pulled up his Omni-tool as well and Thomas received a fair amount of credits. Thomas nods in approval and he transfers the information over to Choi's Omni-tool.

Choi looks at the information and smiles; he's obviously pleased with the results. "You're a lifesaver. You're my personal Commander Shepard."

The thought of that name made him cringe a little, but he didn't want to let him know that he knew the hero of the Citadel personally. In this sort of business, you don't get too friendly with the clients even if the business is legal on this planet. "Thomas. You look like you need to unplug, man. A little R & R, maybe? We're heading down to the Eternity to celebrate." Then he looks at his asari girlfriend. "Think we should take him with us?"

The asari smiles and eyes up Thomas like he was some kind of prize. "Definitely, he should come with us."

Thomas was naturally going to say no, because of his principles of not getting too close to the clients in the same fashion as why psychiatrists and therapists don't interact with their patients on personal levels unless it involves therapy.

"No, I have to get up in the morning." Thomas politely declined.

"Come on." The asari moves in a little closer to Choi while she still stares at Thomas. "It'll be fun. I promise."

Thomas was ready to tell everyone to leave his apartment, but at that moment he noticed the exposed skin on the asari's upper arm. She had a tattoo of a white rabbit. _What is an asari doing with a tattoo of a little woodland creature from Earth?_ Thomas thought to himself. Maybe that's a question he will have to ask later, because he remembers the message telling him to follow the white rabbit. "Yeah. Sure why not. I'll go. Just let me get ready."

Thomas looks over a few things before he leaves his apartment, but he unintentionally finds a picture of him and the crew of the SR-1 Normandy. It was him and Shepard standing next to each other. Liara was standing next to Shepard on his right side while Ashley Williams was standing next to Thomas on his left side. Behind them was the krogan battlemaster Wrex, the quarian engineer Tali, the L2 biotic Kaiden Alenko, and the turian C-Sec agent Garrus.

He looks at Ashley with a hint of melancholy. He remembers the mission all too well: the meeting, reciting Walt Whitman together, the kiss during the mission on Virmire, and their intimate moment together inside the Mako. Although he didn't want to do it, he had to break up with Ash. She had just redeemed her family's name by assisting Shepard's mission and it would look bad if she was romantically linked with a rogue agent. He was surprised that she understood the situation, but it didn't help the situation.

Thomas hears Choi calling his name. "Thomas! Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Thomas shouts back and walked down the stairs. He explains himself. "Just having a moment like… you know what it's like when you have a surreal thought and think that it never had existed or ask if it had existed?" Thomas asked still thinking about his past adventures with Shepard and moments he spent with Ashley.

"Of course." Choi smiled. "It happens to me every time I take mescaline while on a red sand trip."

His friends laugh while they all leave Thomas's apartment.

* * *

Thomas followed Choi and his friends to Eternity, a place he made visits on weekends or for special occasions like tonight. The seven sat around a large circular table reserved for large parties and Choi ordered a dancer for the group's entertainment. Thomas volunteered to get the first round of drinks.

Thomas was greeted by the asari bartender when he approached the counter. "Hey, Thomas. How's it going tonight, babe?" She said with her raspy voice.

"Fine." Thomas smiled. "Always a pleasure to see you Matriarch Aethyta. How have you been?"

"Better now that you walked in here sexy." The asari made a flirting gesture at the former agent and smiled.

"I hate it when you tease me?" Thomas smiled back.

"Well, what can I get for you?" She asked. "Is it for that party you came in here with?"

"Yep." Thomas pulls up his Omni-tool and transfers the list of orders to her.

Aethyta glances over the list and types in her own controls. "Alright. I've set you and your party up on the drink kiosk. Just ring up your drinks each time and one of our cocktail waitresses will serve you."

"Thanks." Thomas turns his head to make sure his party wasn't watching. He moves in closer to Aethyta and quietly asked her a question. "Has anyone been asking for me?"

Now it was Aethyta turn to move in closer. "Actually, there was a salarian telling me he was meeting someone. He asked if there was a spot free from prying eyes. So I told him the balcony isn't such a bad spot."

"Thanks, I'll see you later." Thomas winked at the bartender before walking back to his table.

Choi and his friends were watching the asari dancing on the table. His distracted eyes were too focused on the dancing asari when Thomas taps him on the shoulder. Choi jerks to the side and laughs. "Thomas. You're missing the show."

"I ordered the drinks, but I'm going to see if someone I know is here." Thomas said.

"Don't be gone for too long." Choi said. "I hired the stripper for the rest of the hour."

Thomas walked towards the balcony and scouted for a salarian Aethyta told him about. He does a quick scan of the area and so far he can only see two krogans talking to each other, asari quietly sipping their drinks, and turians chatting loudly over politics. Then he saw the backside of a slender being gazing at the fantastic view of Nos Astra.

Thomas walked over to the ledge of the balcony and took in the sights. He leans over and asks the being next to him without taking his eyes off the scene. "Impressive view, isn't it?"

The being next to Thomas just happens to be a salarian. The salarian replied. "It is, but I doubt you're here for your own leisure."

Thomas looks at the salarian and asked. "Were you the one that sent that message?"

It was the salarian's turn to look at Thomas. "I'm Sekat. Yes, I sent you the message."

"You also make it a habit of spying on me?" Thomas said with a hint of bitterness.

"You have to understand Mr. Anderson." Sekat said. "There are eyes all around us, especially being utilized in the same way my employer conducts business. I had to watch you from a distance and leave a trail of bread crumbs for you to follow."

"More euphemisms towards old Earth tales?" Thomas laughed slightly. "Was it your idea to write 'follow the white rabbit' back at my apartment?"

"Yes. When I found out the asari in that group had a tattoo of a white rabbit." Sekat said. "Also, I like your human story teller Lewis Carroll. I'm also partial towards the Grimm Tales and much of the old sci-fi vids from your 20th and 21st Century."

"Nice to know." Thomas now becomes more assertive. "Now that I'm here, do you know what I'm here for?"

"Yes." Sekat said and placed something next to the potted plant and made sure Thomas knew where he placed it. "I have to go. I just hope nothing bad of this will come to me."

Sekat downed his drink quickly and walked off. Thomas shuffled over towards the potted plant and investigates what the nervous salarian left behind. Sekat left behind a disk and most likely contains the information Thomas needs. He quickly places the disk in his pocket and returns to Choi's private party.

* * *

**LIARA'S OFFICE**

**OCTOBER 14, 2184**

Liara was typing away on her data pad as always. She's been busy ever since she took up the position as an information broker. It has been nothing but nonstop work, but the work she has been doing is quite rewarding at times. In the short time she's been on Nos Astra, she has already developed a bit of a reputation as a powerful broker. If she had to give credit to her success, it was from her friend and fellow information broker Thomas. His experience in the information business was extremely helpful, especially for a start-up business like hers.

Liara was looking over the latest reports when the door slid open. She looked up. "Thomas. I was worried. You arrived later than you normally do."

"Oh, sorry about being late." Thomas said. "I had a late night last night with a client. However, we got a break."

"What is it?" She asked while locking the door behind Thomas.

"I made contact with our contact." He said.

"So you have it? The location?" She stood up from her seat.

"Yeah." Thomas smiled. "I got it."

"Do you have it with you?" She asked.

"No, not with me." Thomas plainly states. "I have it hidden some somewhere and it's too dangerous to have it on me personally."

"Well, it is for the best." She said with a sigh. Even though she would like to know what was on the disk, she knew the risks of having such information. "For right now we must not call attention to ourselves. Anybody could be an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Well, we have to assume that everyone is an agent for the time being and yes, today is business as usual. We should all check it out tonight at my apartment." Thomas pulls out a bottle of water from a mini-fridge and sits across from Liara.

At that moment, Liara's office door was being hacked; it was obvious that someone was outside trying to get in. Thomas pulls out his pistol while Liara's biotic charge flares up. Both information brokers anticipate the coming firefight. The door's red holographic panel turns green and the door slides open.

A drell and a female turian stood at the threshold of the door. When they saw Thomas and Liara prompt and ready to attack, the two ducked to the sides.

Liara recognized the two and she charged down as did Thomas by putting his gun back in his holster. "Feron. Demita. You startled us." Liara takes a deep breath.

Feron was a drell who worked for the Shadow Broker, which was until he was convinced by Thomas to quit when he realized that the broker was giving Commander Shepard's body to the Collectors. Feron turned against his organization and helped Thomas and Liara.

Demita Lucalla is a female turian with white face paint covering her cheeks and forehead. Unlike male turians, females didn't have long fringes on their heads but their mandibles were elongated, their body frame skinnier, and their hips smaller than their male counterparts. Like all turians she had served the Hierarchy's military, but she was top in her class as a weapons specialist and a proficient hand-to-hand combat expert.

"Sorry about that Liara." Feron apologized.

"When the door was locked and you didn't respond to our call, we feared the worst." Demita said.

"That'll be my fault." Thomas confessed. "I had my comm dampener on. I didn't want anyone to know what we have found."

"What is it?" Feron asked.

"Lock the door again and I'll tell you two." Thomas said while Demita relocks the door.

* * *

As soon as Thomas returned to his apartment, he immediately pulls out his duffel bag and begins to pack his things for a long trip. When he finished packing, he strolled down the stairs over to a panel next to a large painting and that's when he felt something wasn't right.

He slowly approached away from the panel and ran back upstairs. He quickly takes the picture of him and the rest of the Normandy SR-1 crew and made a quick adjustment to the programed photographs. After he reprograms the picture frame, he went back downstairs and looked for a few data pads he had scattered around.

While reaching one of many data pads, he quickly froze when he saw a red beam bouncing off the reflection of the data pad. He quickly looks up and realized that the light beam was coming from the apartment across from his. "Oh, shit!" is all he could shout when the bullets sprayed from the building and cut through the massive glass window of his apartment.

* * *

Liara's skycar touchdown near the entrance of the apartment complex and calmly exited the vehicle while Feron and Demita followed her. When they arrived at Thomas's apartment, the sight of Nos Astra police crawling all over his place was a shocking sight to see.

Demita was the first to speak. "Spirits. Did something happen to Thomas?"

"I do not know." Liara replied. "Goddess I hope not."

Just then the three were approached by an armored clad asari with a familiar logo on her chest plate. "Ms. T'Soni? Tela Vasir of Special Tactics and Reconnaissance. May I speak with you?"

* * *

_**A/N:** Hey everyone. The Matrix Effect is back. Sorry for the delay I had school and a ton of writing assignments to take care of. I hope you like the follow up._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**__ I do not own Mass Effect or the Matrix_

**CHAPTER 2  
**

* * *

Liara just arrived to the apartment of her friend Thomas Anderson only to find his place being swarmed by the Nos Astra police, investigating the foul play that went down before she arrived. She was accompanied by her friends Feron and Demita; they showed equal concern for the situation as well, because they were also friends of Thomas.

Now an asari Spectre calling herself Tela Vasir approach the trio. "Ms. T'Soni? Please step through, but your friends will have to stay behind. I'll explain situation to you."

Liara complies with the order while Feron and Demita quietly agree. The two asari walk through the apartment to the dismay of the police officers trying to gather all the forensic evidence they could gather using their Omni-tools. Liara could see the handprints left behind by Thomas and various items dropped on the floor.

"Hey!" One of the officers said. "This is a closed crime scene!"

"Yes, I know." Vasir rebutted. "Thank you officer, now your people are dismissed."

Realizing that they have no choice, the officers complied with the Spectre. Despite Illium being independent from Citadel space, Illium maintains its freedom by giving tribute to the Council once in a while through various gestures and one of those gestures is aiding a Council Spectre whenever a 'request' is given.

The leading officer is becoming upset and she makes a futile protest. "You can't do that!"

Vasir simply replied. "Already done."

The officers were not pleased with the outcome. The lead officer simply huffed in dissatisfaction and walked away from the crime scene with her fellow officers tailing behind her.

When the officers left, Vasir turned around and faced Liara. "Again, let me introduce myself. Tela Vasir of Special Tactics and Recon."

"Why would a Spectre be interested in what Mr. Anderson was doing?" Liara asked.

Vasir didn't answer right away; as a matter of fact she hesitated for a moment. Then she answered. "It would seem that your friend Mr. Anderson has come across some sensitive information involving a very powerful figure in the galaxy." She stepped closer to Liara. "And I know that you know that as well, you are partners with Anderson after all."

"This is not the Citadel if I might have to remind you." Liara became stern. "Gathering the kind of information as we do here on Illium is not illegal. So please explain to me what this is about?"

Vasir just narrows her eyes. "It has come to my attention that you and Anderson have acquired information about the Shadow Broker, a dangerous enemy to make if I may add. You, Anderson, and your two friends out there could be in danger."

Liara didn't shrug from her comment. Liara just simply replied. "I'm well aware of the danger the Shadow Broker is, but since you are here and my friend Thomas is gone what can you tell me? What happened?"

"About twenty-five minutes ago, someone took a shot at Anderson." Vasir pointed to the large window with three holes present while keeping her eyes on Liara. "Note the bullet holes. He stuck around for almost _two_ minutes before leaving the building. Whatever he was doing was important. He was in a hurry, he left his duffel bag upstairs and it was only half-packed."

"If he is not here, where is he?" Liara asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be sifting through his crap." Vasir looks at the apartment and shakes her head. "Look at this. I have never seen so many monitor vids and I'm sure each contains enough information to blackmail half of the Traverse and I can't find a shred of information about his whereabouts."

"He was proficient in technical matters." Liara smiled while recollection his talents with both hardware and software, especially the time when Thomas gave Captain David Anderson his self-made device which allowed him to hack into Ambassador Udina's computer, after giving Udina a nice swift punch to the face. Then Captain Anderson released the Normandy from their lockdown and the device prevented him from being implicated from prosecution since the device erased himself from the security vids and fooled the docking manifest logs that the Normandy was still in dock.

"Well, I'm glad to see how much you admire him, but to my annoyance he disappeared like a ghost and I can't find anything on the man." Vasir seemed rather flustered at first, but her annoyance turned to admiration. "There's no blood, no body. It looks like Anderson got away. I wouldn't expect any less from a well-trained former intelligence agent like him. He saw the sniper coming and he got out of the way. It was like he knew the sniper was around before he saw it coming. Clever on his part."

"Did the police find anything after they arrived?" Liara asked.

"Just the mess and the bullet holes." Vasir smirked. "I gave them a gold star for finding the bullet holes."

"Thomas was expecting me." Liara said. "I would imagine he would leave something here for me to find if you say that he expected someone to shoot him. Our office wasn't safe."

"I'm not surprised." Vasir said. "Like you said before, this isn't the Citadel. Illium is just Omega with expensive shoes. I haven't found anything useful for tracking him down yet. You knew Anderson better than I do. Where would he have hidden his backups?"

"Allow me to look around, perhaps I will find something." Liara said.

The two asari looked for roughly five minutes in hopes of finding something that could lead to the whereabouts of Thomas. Vasir was trying to gather as much information on his vid screens while Liara searched his bedroom. She noticed the duffel bag being halfway packed as described by Vasir, but what caught her eye was the picture on the nightstand. She gazed at picture and she let the image sink in. It was a picture of herself next to Shepard and it also had Ashley Williams next to Thomas. Kaiden, Tali, Wrex, and Garrus also posed for the photograph and she had a slight moment of both melancholy and happiness.

As Liara picked up the picture, something happened to the image. It was no longer the group photograph; it was a photograph of ancient ruins. She picked her head up and she tried to locate a certain object in Thomas's apartment.

"I have found something." Liara told Vasir. "Take a look."

The Spectre approached Liara and looked at the image on the photographic screen. "What did you find?"

"This photograph changed right when I touched it." Liara explained.

"It must be encoded to your I.D." Vasir said. "Maybe he was trying to tell you something."

"Yes." Liara told her.

"What picture is that?" Vasir asked.

"It is a Prothean dig site on Ilos." She explained to the agent. Then she tilted the image so Vasir to get a better look. "He knows that I am an expert on the Protheans and this must be his message."

"Do you understand the message?" Vasir questioned Liara, but not in a demanding manner. It was more of a concerned tone.

"Yes, over here." Liara walked over to a glass case. Inside the case was a piece of material which happens to be from Ilos. She examines the case and looks for anything out of the ordinary or possibly a hidden device such as a button or a handle. "It should be here."

Vasir could only look at her actions and the item that is inside the case. "What is this thing?"

"It is a Prothean artifact." Liara said. "It was a thank you gift from me to him for when he helped me a while ago."

"Prothean, huh?" Vasir looked at the artifact and nods approvingly. "It looks priceless."

Liara was about to say something in reference to the artifact, but then she found a switch near the base of the glass case. "I think I found it." A small drawer opened and inside contained a disk with a glowing red light.

"It looks like a backup disk. Let's try on his terminal." Vasir said.

Liara complied with the request and she placed the disk in Thomas's terminal. Bits and pieces of information projected itself in a holographic form on the numerous screens. Then the screens showed an image of a salarian. Thomas had recorded his phone calls and left it for Liara to find. The two asari listened to the conversation.

"_What do you have now, Sekat?_" It was Thomas's voice and only his voice. The only thing that could be seen was the salarian.

"_It was tricky, but you paid for the best._" Sekat said. "_I can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system._"

"_How soon can you have it?_" Thomas asked. "_I left my colleagues to think that I have the information here. I damn well couldn't tell them it was going to be a series of clues back at the office. The office was bugged and now they're coming here soon, so I have to tell them when they arrive._"

The salarian answerd. "_Shouldn't take long. Come to my office. Baria Frontiers, in the Dracon Trade Center. Gotta say, Anderson. You're making me a little nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?_"

"_Relax, Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours and if it will make you feel better I even have a couple hired guns that will watch your back._" Thomas said.

"_I feel safer already._" Sekat replied sarcastically.

Liara turned to see Vasir. "This must be the information he was talking about, the Shadow Broker's agents tried to kill him. Goddess I hope he is still all right."

Vasir pulls the disk out of the terminal and places it in her pocket. "I know where the Dracon Trade Center is, do you?"

"Yes and I have my car." Liara said. "I'll follow you there."

* * *

The ride on the skycar was quiet yet tense. Liara followed Vasir's car and she never took her eyes off the Spectre's vehicle. Feron and Demita also remained quiet while riding with her. Demita broke up the silent monotony by speaking up.

"You knew Thomas longer than I have." Demita said with a hint of concern in her voice. "He should be all right. Should he?"

"Thomas is very strong, but sometimes even the most skilled warrior can fall for a simple trick from time to time." Liara responded.

"That is insightful." Feron said. "Who said that?"

"Wrex. A krogan battlemaster who accompanied us during our mission to bring down Saren." She replied.

Demita sense the distress in Liara's tone. "You have nothing to worry about, Liara. Thomas knows how to take care of himself and I'm more than sure that avoiding those sniper rounds was more than proof to show that he's one step ahead of the situation."

"Thank you, Demita." Liara told her friend. "That does give me a sense of solace in this situation."

Feron could see the building as they quickly approach the structure. "There it is."

Vasir's voice echoed through the vehicle. "_T'Soni? We're here. Park your vehicle in the front and don't worry about the parking ticket, I'll have it wavered_."

"Understood." Liara obeyed the instructions and land her skycar behind Vasir's car.

After everyone exits their vehicles, a bright flash erupted on the third floor of the Dracon Trade Center. Then a powerful blast followed after the flash which was so powerful it knocked the people standing around outside the building on the ground. Then more explosions followed the bottom two floors.

The people who were inside the building were running out through the lobby entrance. The site was horrifying. Asari, humans, turians, salarians, and even a few krogan were either getting away from the danger or carrying an injured person around their shoulder.

"Spirits!" Demita gasped.

"Gods of the ocean, what just happened?" Feron showed equal concern.

Vasir ran up to Liara. "The Baria Frontiers was located on the third floor! Right where that explosion came from!"

"Thomas was up there!" Liara exclaimed.

"And they took out the three floors to make sure they got him!" Vasir told her. "I'll grab the skycar and seal the building from the top!"

"We'll start from the bottom and work upwards!" Feron said.

Vasir jumped in her car but not before saying. "Just leave some for me!"

Liara, Demita, and Feron pulled out their weapons and stormed the front of the building. As they were inside, the once plush and beautiful plaza that stood as a testament to capitalism and independence from Council space was now in ruins. Emergency sprinklers were showering areas of the lobby that wasn't destroyed. Pieces of concrete crumbling around them and computer terminals damaged beyond repair and the automated voice boxes now reduced to unintelligent mumbling. Scores of dead bodies littered all around them. This was obviously the makings of a terrorist attack, but they know this was just a major procedure to silence the one person that could be a potential threat. That threat was Thomas, but who would do such a thing? That question points at the obvious answer; however, Liara wasn't going to make accusations just yet until she finds her friend.

Liara tried to activate the elevator. "The power is out. The elevator will not work."

"_No alarms, no police_." Demita stated. "_Whoever did this is a professional_."

"The stairs is over here." Feron pointed over to the side.

The trio made a quick dash towards the stairs as Liara takes the lead. They enter the second floor only to discover that the damage is not as extensive as it was on the first floor. As they pushed through, they found more bodies.

When Liara examined the first body, she noticed it was a human male wearing a business suit. Then she realized this human was not killed by the explosion. "This man was killed, not by the explosion, but by gunshot. He's covered in bullets." She calls for Vasir. "Vasir, there is a possibility there are mercs present in this building. I just saw evidence of victims with bullet wounds."

"_Bullet wounds?_" Vasir questioned. "_Guess this was more than just an explosion._"

As Liara, Feron, and Demita pushed forward to the third floor only to find more evidence of carnage. They came across a crater which was the spot where one of the explosions took place.

Feron scanned the crater with his Omni-tool. "There was evidence here of a military grade bomb that went off."

"Military?" Demita said.

"There's only one organization I know of that would go this far to kill someone." Feron said.

"The Shadow Broker." Liara made the connection. "I'm disturbed, but not surprised that it would be the Broker's work. Killing hundreds of innocent people just to reach one target. What a despicable act."

"Baria Frontiers is just up ahead." Demita said as she checked the entrance log. "Thomas was here. He signed in a few minutes before the explosion."

"Come on." Liara ordered. "It's through this door."

After they opened the door, they were greeted with a sign that said _Baria Frontiers_ and a voice recorder greeting anyone who entered through the security checkpoint. Unfortunately they were greeted with a bright flash. That flash belonged to a flash frag grenade.

The three were temporarily blinded, but when their sight returned they were greeted by a squad of heavily armed mercenaries wearing light gray armor with a distinctive red symbol plastered on their shoulder pads. It was the symbol of the Shadow Broker and the Broker had sent his private army to stop Thomas and Liara.

"Vasir!" Liara called on her radio. "I'm pinned down by mercs and they are well armed! The Broker sent his soldiers!"

"_Dammit!_" Vasir said. "_Let's not forget well disciplined! The Broker just doesn't hire two-bit mercs!_"

"She's right!" Demita said picking off a few of the Broker's soldiers. Judging by the sound of their grunts, they were batarian and turian. "These are professional soldiers!"

The three pushed through the maze of the wrecked office. Cubicles and desks that were once used for business affairs, were now nothing but twisted metal and smoldering debris scattered all over the entire floor. This is the epicenter of the explosion, but to the surprise of Liara, Feron, and Demita there were no bodies like on the lower two floors. It was most likely the staff was gone for the evening or the bodies were taken away to hide the evidence of foul play.

Liara took the lead and she used her biotics to enable a biotic throw against one of the lead soldiers, a human male. She takes the human's body and tosses him like a ragdoll against a few of his comrades. This allowed enough of an opportunity for Feron and Demita to shoot the fallen soldiers when they were down.

Liara's biotics have grown powerful since her adventures with Shepard a year ago; she would often think to herself_ If Shepard can see me now!_ The thought often ran through her mind, but it would also remind her as an acknowledgement to her growing confidence… or overconfidence to which Thomas was not afraid to point out from time to time as he would see it as a caution to the winds.

Liara's barriers were also quite strong, strong enough to provide cover for her two comrades as the Broker's men continued their onslaught. Feron and Demita gave her the support she needed by giving her cover fire.

From a distance, the three can see more soldiers coming out of the offices and exits, but this gave Demita an opportunity. She pulled out her sniper rifle and took careful aim of the men approaching. She squeezed the trigger and one by one the Broker's men went down and took delight for what she did.

"Impressive." Feron complimented his friend.

"Why thank you." Demita smiled.

"Goddess!" Liara said observing the damaged office floor. As they pushed forward, they discovered another massive crater showing evidence of where the main explosion occurred. The structure of the floor was torn from the building's beams and the floor exposed the bottom two floors. It was then they realized the explosion occurred here and from the series of burn marks it was a series of explosions going off at once.

"I know!" Feron added. "Such determination for the death of one man!"

"We're almost there!" Demita yelled over the roar of her assault rifle.

"Come on!" Liara ordered. "It's just behind this door!"

When Feron was trying to hack through the lock, they heard the blast of what sounded like a shotgun going off. Feron moved faster to open the door, but when he finally got the door opened they were looking at the backside of one of the Broker's agents standing before a salarian's dead body. The agent jerked his head back when he realized there were people that weren't in his group standing behind him.

With lightning quick speed the agent turned around and aimed his shotgun at Liara and her friends. Before he could squeeze the trigger, another shot rang out. The agent dropped to the floor and standing behind the fallen agent was Tela Vasir with her pistol drawn and smoking from the gun's chamber.

Vasir holstered the pistol back on her side and said. "Damn it. If I had been a few seconds faster, I've could've stopped them." She spoke regretfully, but her tone of voice suggested that her statement was slightly vague.

Before Vasir could say more, Liara examined the dead salarian's still-warm dead body. "This must be Sekat."

"Must have been." Vasir said.

"I can't find the data anywhere." Demita said while scanning the room with her Omni-tool.

"Speaking of which, did you find your friend's body?" Vasir asked.

Then to the surprise of everyone in the room, another voice echoed. "You mean this body?" Liara, Feron, and Demita turned to see that the voice belonged to Thomas. He managed to sneak up behind Vasir and he had his pistol pointed at Vasir's head.


End file.
